Gumpertz, Werner Herbert (42033526) - Revision history

Admin: Update links to expanded middle-name soldier titles

2026-09-22T05:25:21Z

Update links to expanded middle-name soldier titles

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:25, 22 September 2026
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	== Research notes ==		== Research notes ==
	* Joint NPS Fort Hunt oral history with [[Gans, Werner J. (31457356)\|Werner Gans]] and [[Schwab, Henry (32681038)\|Henry Schwab]].		* Joint NPS Fort Hunt oral history with [[Gans, Werner Joachim (31457356)\|Werner Gans]] and [[Schwab, Henry (32681038)\|Henry Schwab]].
	* MFIU-5		* MFIU-5
	* see CR notes		* see CR notes

Admin: Add wartime portrait + bio card; cite Boston Globe/Legacy obituary; fold family/SGH detail

2026-09-22T05:06:54Z

Add wartime portrait + bio card; cite Boston Globe/Legacy obituary; fold family/SGH detail

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:06, 22 September 2026
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	\|class_number=25		\|class_number=25
	\|class_display=25		\|class_display=25
	\|photo=~~1677027778985803~~.jpg		\|photo=Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_army_portrait.jpg
	\|death_date=1 December 2017		\|death_date=1 December 2017
	\|birth_place=Berlin, Germany		\|birth_place=Berlin, Germany
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	== Biography ==		== Biography ==
	Werner Herbert Gumpertz was born on 26 December 1917 in Berlin, Germany, the son of Richard and Olga Gumpertz. The family ran a boys’ clothing firm; as a child he sometimes modeled for the catalog. He wanted to be an engineer from childhood. In 1936 he went to Zurich to study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). In the summer of 1939 he was in Amsterdam on volunteer engineering work when the war blocked his return to finish the course. After Kristallnacht his father was sent to Dachau; his mother secured Richard’s release and Richard joined Werner in Holland. The two arrived in New York City on 12 March 1940 on the Red Star Line ship ''Westernland''. Olga and Werner’s younger brother followed in 1941.		Werner Herbert Gumpertz was born on 26 December 1917 in Berlin, Germany, the son of Richard and Olga Gumpertz and older brother of Gerard (“Gerry”) Gumpertz. The family ran a boys’ clothing firm; as a child he sometimes modeled for the catalog. He wanted to be an engineer from childhood. In 1936 he went to Zurich to study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). In the summer of 1939 he was in Amsterdam on volunteer engineering work when the war blocked his return to finish the course. After Kristallnacht his father was sent to Dachau; his mother secured Richard’s release and Richard joined Werner in Holland. The two arrived in New York City on 12 March 1940 on the Red Star Line ship ''Westernland''. Olga and Werner’s younger brother followed in 1941.

	In the United States he worked as a junior engineer and surveyor in New York and on defense housing in Newport News, Virginia. Drafted on 27 August 1943, he trained at the Engineering Replacement Training Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, served in Pennsylvania, and returned to Belvoir as a supervisory noncommissioned officer. On a free day he went to the Pentagon, told an intelligence officer he wanted the work, and within a week was sent to [[Camp Ritchie]].		In the United States he worked as a junior engineer and surveyor in New York and on defense housing in Newport News, Virginia. Drafted on 27 August 1943, he trained at the Engineering Replacement Training Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, served in Pennsylvania, and returned to Belvoir as a supervisory noncommissioned officer. On a free day he went to the Pentagon, told an intelligence officer he wanted the work, and within a week was sent to [[Camp Ritchie]].
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	Gumpertz trained as an interrogator with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]] (30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945)—interrogation, intelligence analysis, and document exploitation. He later recalled piecing together German order of battle from unrelated scraps (laundry tickets, speeding citations, and the like), a night drop near Gettysburg with a map printed only in Japanese, and other field exercises. He went overseas on a British liner (sleeping under a table rather than in a hammock), to England, then across the Channel and into Germany with Seventh Army. He interrogated German prisoners in a former Nazi girls’ camp and was assigned to MFIU-5 at Jugenheim, attached to Seventh Army; the unit ended the war in Augsburg. Once, traveling without the daily password, he was nearly shot. He later said he once had a short conversation with Hermann Göring, and that when the small intelligence section needed a doctor it brought in a captured German air-force medical officer whose father-in-law, a Protestant bishop in Heidelberg, had refused to yield to the Nazis; Gumpertz later corresponded with that bishop from Frankfurt.		Gumpertz trained as an interrogator with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]] (30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945)—interrogation, intelligence analysis, and document exploitation. He later recalled piecing together German order of battle from unrelated scraps (laundry tickets, speeding citations, and the like), a night drop near Gettysburg with a map printed only in Japanese, and other field exercises. He went overseas on a British liner (sleeping under a table rather than in a hammock), to England, then across the Channel and into Germany with Seventh Army. He interrogated German prisoners in a former Nazi girls’ camp and was assigned to MFIU-5 at Jugenheim, attached to Seventh Army; the unit ended the war in Augsburg. Once, traveling without the daily password, he was nearly shot. He later said he once had a short conversation with Hermann Göring, and that when the small intelligence section needed a doctor it brought in a captured German air-force medical officer whose father-in-law, a Protestant bishop in Heidelberg, had refused to yield to the Nazis; Gumpertz later corresponded with that bishop from Frankfurt.

	After the fighting he joined United States military government in Karlsruhe as agent in charge of publications, covering periodicals and books. Discharged in early 1946, he spent a year as an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Frankfurt doing design work, then used the GI Bill at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning bachelor’s and ~~further~~ engineering degrees and teaching ~~there~~. With Howard Simpson and Frank ~~Heger he~~ formed Simpson Gumpertz and Heger. He married Elizabeth Lewit in 1949~~, lived~~ in West Newton, ~~Massachusetts~~, and died ~~there~~ on 1 December 2017 at ~~the age of~~ 99.		After the fighting he joined United States military government in Karlsruhe as agent in charge of publications, covering periodicals and books. Discharged in early 1946, he spent a year as an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Frankfurt doing design work, then used the GI Bill at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning bachelor’s, master’s, and advanced engineering degrees and teaching in the Department of Building Engineering and Construction. With Howard Simpson and Frank Heger—colleagues from MIT—he formed Simpson Gumpertz and Heger (SGH). He married Elizabeth (“Betty”) Lewit in 1949; they bought a two-family house in West Newton in 1951 that remained his home for the rest of his life, and they had two children, Richard and Ruth. Betty died in 1999. In 2000 he married Susan Connors. He supported local history work in Newton, including Historic Newton’s Durant-Kenrick House project. He died in West Newton on 1 December 2017, at 99, and was buried at Newton Cemetery.

	== Research notes ==		== Research notes ==
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	<gallery mode="packed" heights="220px">		<gallery mode="packed" heights="220px">
	Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary.jpg\|Werner Herbert Gumpertz, from his 2017 Brezniak Funeral Directors obituary		Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary.jpg\|Werner Herbert Gumpertz, from his 2017 Brezniak Funeral Directors obituary
			Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_bio_card.png\|Biographical card with wartime portrait and service summary (source of graphic unknown)
	</gallery>		</gallery>
	</div>		</div>
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	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
			* [https://www.brezniakrodman.com/obituary-archive/werner-gumpertz/ Brezniak Funeral Directors — Werner Gumpertz full obituary archive]
			* [https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/werner-gumpertz-obituary?id=31532087 Boston Globe / Legacy — Werner H. Gumpertz obituary (published 3–4 December 2017)]
	* [[:File:FOHU_POBox1142_Gans_Gumpertz_Schwab.pdf\|NPS Fort Hunt Oral History — joint interview with Werner Gans, Werner Gumpertz, and Henry Schwab]] (formerly published on the NPS Fort Hunt oral-history exhibit)		* [[:File:FOHU_POBox1142_Gans_Gumpertz_Schwab.pdf\|NPS Fort Hunt Oral History — joint interview with Werner Gans, Werner Gumpertz, and Henry Schwab]] (formerly published on the NPS Fort Hunt oral-history exhibit)
	* [[:File:Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary.jpg\|Obituary portrait used as profile photo]]		* [[:File:Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary.jpg\|Obituary portrait used as profile photo]]

Admin: Fold NPS joint oral history into Class 25 / Seventh Army biography

2026-09-22T05:02:40Z

Fold NPS joint oral history into Class 25 / Seventh Army biography

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:02, 22 September 2026
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	\|birth_date=26 December 1917		\|birth_date=26 December 1917
	\|death_place=West Newton, Massachusetts		\|death_place=West Newton, Massachusetts
			\|division=Seventh Army
	}}		}}

	<div class="soldier-lead">		<div class="soldier-lead">
	'''Werner Herbert Gumpertz''' (26 December 1917–1 December 2017) was a Berlin-born U.S. Army interrogator ~~associated with~~ [[Camp Ritchie]]~~. He trained~~ with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]], ~~interrogated prisoners for~~ Seventh Army in ~~Germany~~, ~~later~~ handled ~~publications for~~ military government in Karlsruhe, and after the war co-founded the engineering firm Simpson Gumpertz and Heger.		'''Werner Herbert Gumpertz''' (26 December 1917–1 December 2017) was a Berlin-born U.S. Army interrogator and Ritchie Boy who trained at [[Camp Ritchie]] with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]], served with Seventh Army in Europe, handled military-government publications in Karlsruhe, and after the war co-founded the engineering firm Simpson Gumpertz and Heger.
	</div>		</div>

	== Biography ==		== Biography ==
	Werner Herbert Gumpertz was born on 26 December 1917 in Berlin, Germany, the son of Richard and Olga Gumpertz. He wanted to be an engineer from childhood. In 1936 he went to Zurich to study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. In the summer of 1939 he was in Amsterdam on volunteer engineering work when the war blocked his return to finish the course. After Kristallnacht his father was sent to Dachau; his mother secured ~~Richard's~~ release and Richard joined Werner in Holland. The two arrived in New York City on 12 March 1940 on the Red Star Line ship ''Westernland''. Olga and ~~Werner's~~ younger brother followed in 1941.		Werner Herbert Gumpertz was born on 26 December 1917 in Berlin, Germany, the son of Richard and Olga Gumpertz. The family ran a boys’ clothing firm; as a child he sometimes modeled for the catalog. He wanted to be an engineer from childhood. In 1936 he went to Zurich to study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). In the summer of 1939 he was in Amsterdam on volunteer engineering work when the war blocked his return to finish the course. After Kristallnacht his father was sent to Dachau; his mother secured Richard’s release and Richard joined Werner in Holland. The two arrived in New York City on 12 March 1940 on the Red Star Line ship ''Westernland''. Olga and Werner’s younger brother followed in 1941.

	In the United States he worked as a junior engineer and surveyor in New York and on defense housing in Newport News, Virginia. Drafted on 27 August 1943, he trained at the Engineering Replacement Training Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, served in Pennsylvania, and returned to Belvoir as a supervisory noncommissioned officer. On a free day he went to the Pentagon, told an intelligence officer he wanted the work, and within a week was sent to [[Camp Ritchie]].		In the United States he worked as a junior engineer and surveyor in New York and on defense housing in Newport News, Virginia. Drafted on 27 August 1943, he trained at the Engineering Replacement Training Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, served in Pennsylvania, and returned to Belvoir as a supervisory noncommissioned officer. On a free day he went to the Pentagon, told an intelligence officer he wanted the work, and within a week was sent to [[Camp Ritchie]].

	Gumpertz trained as an interrogator with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]] (30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945). He later recalled ~~a graduation exercise in which he and two others spent three days reconstructing a~~ German ~~force in northern France~~ from a laundry ~~basket of ordinary papers—laundry~~ tickets and ~~speeding citations—with~~ the ~~secret material already stripped out. Another~~ night ~~exercise dropped them on the~~ Gettysburg ~~battlefield~~ with a map printed in Japanese~~; they had to match terrain features to find the assembly point~~. He went overseas on a British liner (sleeping under a table rather than in a hammock), to England, then across the Channel ~~to the suburbs of Paris,~~ and into Germany with Seventh Army as a ~~translator~~ and ~~interrogator of prisoners. He~~ was assigned to MFIU-5 at Jugenheim, attached to Seventh Army~~. The~~ unit ended the war in Augsburg. He later said he once had a short conversation with Hermann ~~Goering~~, and that when the small intelligence section needed a doctor it brought in a captured German air-force medical officer whose father-in-law, a Protestant bishop in Heidelberg, had refused to yield to the Nazis; Gumpertz later corresponded with that bishop from Frankfurt.		Gumpertz trained as an interrogator with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]] (30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945)—interrogation, intelligence analysis, and document exploitation. He later recalled piecing together German order of battle from unrelated scraps (laundry tickets, speeding citations, and the like), a night drop near Gettysburg with a map printed only in Japanese, and other field exercises. He went overseas on a British liner (sleeping under a table rather than in a hammock), to England, then across the Channel and into Germany with Seventh Army. He interrogated German prisoners in a former Nazi girls’ camp and was assigned to MFIU-5 at Jugenheim, attached to Seventh Army; the unit ended the war in Augsburg. Once, traveling without the daily password, he was nearly shot. He later said he once had a short conversation with Hermann Göring, and that when the small intelligence section needed a doctor it brought in a captured German air-force medical officer whose father-in-law, a Protestant bishop in Heidelberg, had refused to yield to the Nazis; Gumpertz later corresponded with that bishop from Frankfurt.

	After the fighting he joined United States military government in Karlsruhe as agent in charge of publications, covering periodicals and books. Discharged in early 1946, he spent a year as an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Frankfurt, then used the GI Bill at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning ~~bachelor's~~ and further engineering degrees and teaching there. With Howard Simpson and Frank Heger he formed Simpson Gumpertz and Heger. He married Elizabeth Lewit in 1949, lived in West Newton, Massachusetts, and died there on 1 December 2017 at the age of 99.		After the fighting he joined United States military government in Karlsruhe as agent in charge of publications, covering periodicals and books. Discharged in early 1946, he spent a year as an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Frankfurt doing design work, then used the GI Bill at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning bachelor’s and further engineering degrees and teaching there. With Howard Simpson and Frank Heger he formed Simpson Gumpertz and Heger. He married Elizabeth Lewit in 1949, lived in West Newton, Massachusetts, and died there on 1 December 2017 at the age of 99.

	== Research notes ==		== Research notes ==
			* Joint NPS Fort Hunt oral history with [[Gans, Werner J. (31457356)\|Werner Gans]] and [[Schwab, Henry (32681038)\|Henry Schwab]].
	* MFIU-5		* MFIU-5
	* see CR notes		* see CR notes
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	<div class="soldier-timeline-body">		<div class="soldier-timeline-body">
	* 26 December 1917 — Born in Berlin, Germany.		* 26 December 1917 — Born in Berlin, Germany.
	* 1936 — Began engineering ~~study~~ at ~~the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in~~ Zurich.		* 1936 — Began engineering studies at ETH Zurich.
	* November 1938 — Father sent to Dachau after Kristallnacht; later released and joined Werner in Holland.		* Summer 1939 — Stranded in Amsterdam by the outbreak of war; father later joined him after Dachau release.
	* Summer 1939 — ~~Volunteer engineering work~~ in Amsterdam; ~~war prevented return to Zurich~~.		* 12 March 1940 — Arrived New York on ''Westernland'' with his father; mother and brother followed in 1941.
	* 12 March 1940 — Arrived in New York with his father ~~on the Westernland.~~		* 27 August 1943 — Drafted; Fort Belvoir engineer training; sought transfer at the Pentagon; sent to Camp Ritchie.
	* 1941 — Mother and brother ~~reached New York~~.		* 30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945 — Class 25 interrogator training (document OB exercises; Japanese-map / Gettysburg night work).
	* 27 August 1943 — Drafted; Fort Belvoir ~~and Pennsylvania~~ engineer training.		* 1945 — England, then Seventh Army in France/Germany (MFIU-5, Jugenheim; Augsburg); interrogations including at a former Nazi girls’ camp; Karlsruhe military-government publications.
	* June 1944 — Supervisory NCO (corporal) at ~~Fort Belvoir~~.		* Early 1946 — Discharged; Corps of Engineers design work in Frankfurt; then MIT and Simpson Gumpertz and Heger.
	* 30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945 — ~~Camp Ritchie~~ Class 25; ~~graduated corporal~~.		* 1 December 2017 — Died in West Newton, Massachusetts.
	* 1945 — Seventh Army ~~interrogator~~ in Germany (MFIU-5 / Jugenheim; ~~later~~ Augsburg).
	* 1945–1946 — Military government~~, Karlsruhe (~~publications~~); discharged early 1946~~.
	* ~~1946–1947~~ — ~~Army~~ Corps of Engineers, Frankfurt, then MIT.
	* 1949 — Married Elizabeth Lewit.
	* 1 December 2017 — Died in West Newton, Massachusetts~~, at age 99~~.
	</div>		</div>
	</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>		</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>


	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
			* [[:File:FOHU_POBox1142_Gans_Gumpertz_Schwab.pdf\|NPS Fort Hunt Oral History — joint interview with Werner Gans, Werner Gumpertz, and Henry Schwab]] (formerly published on the NPS Fort Hunt oral-history exhibit)
	* [[:File:Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary.jpg\|Obituary portrait used as profile photo]]		* [[:File:Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary.jpg\|Obituary portrait used as profile photo]]
	* [https://newton.minlib.net/Record/.b36239951 Newton Talks oral history with Werner Gumpertz — original catalog record (Newton Free Library / Minuteman Library Network)]		* [https://newton.minlib.net/Record/.b36239951 Newton Talks oral history with Werner Gumpertz — original catalog record (Newton Free Library / Minuteman Library Network)]

Admin: Restore prior profile photo; keep obituary portrait in Gallery

2026-09-21T01:15:10Z

Restore prior profile photo; keep obituary portrait in Gallery

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:15, 21 September 2026
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	\|class_number=25		\|class_number=25
	\|class_display=25		\|class_display=25
	\|photo=~~Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary~~.jpg		\|photo=1677027778985803.jpg
	\|death_date=1 December 2017		\|death_date=1 December 2017
	\|birth_place=Berlin, Germany		\|birth_place=Berlin, Germany
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	\| row_source \|\| both		\| row_source \|\| both
	\|}		\|}

			== Gallery ==
			<div class="soldier-gallery">
			<gallery mode="packed" heights="220px">
			Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary.jpg\|Werner Herbert Gumpertz, from his 2017 Brezniak Funeral Directors obituary
			</gallery>
			</div>

	== Timeline ==		== Timeline ==

Admin: Add obituary portrait as profile photo; cite Newton catalog original

2026-09-21T01:12:43Z

Add obituary portrait as profile photo; cite Newton catalog original

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:12, 21 September 2026
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	\|class_number=25		\|class_number=25
	\|class_display=25		\|class_display=25
	\|photo=~~1677027778985803~~.jpg		\|photo=Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary.jpg
	\|death_date=1 December 2017		\|death_date=1 December 2017
	\|birth_place=Berlin, Germany		\|birth_place=Berlin, Germany
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	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
			* [[:File:Gumpertz_Werner_Herbert_42033526_obituary.jpg\|Obituary portrait used as profile photo]]
			* [https://newton.minlib.net/Record/.b36239951 Newton Talks oral history with Werner Gumpertz — original catalog record (Newton Free Library / Minuteman Library Network)]
	* [[Ritchie Boy Interviews#Werner Gumpertz\|Newton Talks interview (watchlist card)]]		* [[Ritchie Boy Interviews#Werner Gumpertz\|Newton Talks interview (watchlist card)]]
	* [https://brezniakfuneraldirectors.com/obituary-archive/werner-gumpertz/ Brezniak Funeral Directors obituary for Werner H. Gumpertz (granddaughter Beckie Moses)]		* [https://brezniakfuneraldirectors.com/obituary-archive/werner-gumpertz/ Brezniak Funeral Directors obituary for Werner H. Gumpertz (granddaughter Beckie Moses)]

Admin: Drop research-framing from MFIU-5 sentence

2026-09-21T01:08:02Z

Drop research-framing from MFIU-5 sentence

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:08, 21 September 2026
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	In the United States he worked as a junior engineer and surveyor in New York and on defense housing in Newport News, Virginia. Drafted on 27 August 1943, he trained at the Engineering Replacement Training Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, served in Pennsylvania, and returned to Belvoir as a supervisory noncommissioned officer. On a free day he went to the Pentagon, told an intelligence officer he wanted the work, and within a week was sent to [[Camp Ritchie]].		In the United States he worked as a junior engineer and surveyor in New York and on defense housing in Newport News, Virginia. Drafted on 27 August 1943, he trained at the Engineering Replacement Training Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, served in Pennsylvania, and returned to Belvoir as a supervisory noncommissioned officer. On a free day he went to the Pentagon, told an intelligence officer he wanted the work, and within a week was sent to [[Camp Ritchie]].

	Gumpertz trained as an interrogator with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]] (30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945). He later recalled a graduation exercise in which he and two others spent three days reconstructing a German force in northern France from a laundry basket of ordinary papers—laundry tickets and speeding citations—with the secret material already stripped out. Another night exercise dropped them on the Gettysburg battlefield with a map printed in Japanese; they had to match terrain features to find the assembly point. He went overseas on a British liner (sleeping under a table rather than in a hammock), to England, then across the Channel to the suburbs of Paris, and into Germany with Seventh Army as a translator and interrogator of prisoners. ~~Research notes place him with~~ MFIU-5 at Jugenheim, attached to Seventh Army. The unit ended the war in Augsburg. He later said he once had a short conversation with Hermann Goering, and that when the small intelligence section needed a doctor it brought in a captured German air-force medical officer whose father-in-law, a Protestant bishop in Heidelberg, had refused to yield to the Nazis; Gumpertz later corresponded with that bishop from Frankfurt.		Gumpertz trained as an interrogator with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]] (30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945). He later recalled a graduation exercise in which he and two others spent three days reconstructing a German force in northern France from a laundry basket of ordinary papers—laundry tickets and speeding citations—with the secret material already stripped out. Another night exercise dropped them on the Gettysburg battlefield with a map printed in Japanese; they had to match terrain features to find the assembly point. He went overseas on a British liner (sleeping under a table rather than in a hammock), to England, then across the Channel to the suburbs of Paris, and into Germany with Seventh Army as a translator and interrogator of prisoners. He was assigned to MFIU-5 at Jugenheim, attached to Seventh Army. The unit ended the war in Augsburg. He later said he once had a short conversation with Hermann Goering, and that when the small intelligence section needed a doctor it brought in a captured German air-force medical officer whose father-in-law, a Protestant bishop in Heidelberg, had refused to yield to the Nazis; Gumpertz later corresponded with that bishop from Frankfurt.

	After the fighting he joined United States military government in Karlsruhe as agent in charge of publications, covering periodicals and books. Discharged in early 1946, he spent a year as an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Frankfurt, then used the GI Bill at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning bachelor's and further engineering degrees and teaching there. With Howard Simpson and Frank Heger he formed Simpson Gumpertz and Heger. He married Elizabeth Lewit in 1949, lived in West Newton, Massachusetts, and died there on 1 December 2017 at the age of 99.		After the fighting he joined United States military government in Karlsruhe as agent in charge of publications, covering periodicals and books. Discharged in early 1946, he spent a year as an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Frankfurt, then used the GI Bill at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning bachelor's and further engineering degrees and teaching there. With Howard Simpson and Frank Heger he formed Simpson Gumpertz and Heger. He married Elizabeth Lewit in 1949, lived in West Newton, Massachusetts, and died there on 1 December 2017 at the age of 99.

Admin: Fold Newton Talks interview; keep Class 25; expanded Herbert

2026-09-21T01:07:15Z

Fold Newton Talks interview; keep Class 25; expanded Herbert

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:07, 21 September 2026
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	\|nativity=Germany		\|nativity=Germany
	\|religion=Jewish		\|religion=Jewish
	~~\|enlistment_place=NEW YORK CITY NEW YORK~~
	~~\|state=WASHINGTON~~
	\|overseas=Y		\|overseas=Y
	~~\|certificate=10044~~
	~~\|education=3 years of college~~
	~~\|occupation=Draftsmen~~
	~~\|marital=Single with dependents~~
	\|confidence=high		\|confidence=high
	\|class_number=25		\|class_number=25
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	\|birth_place=Berlin, Germany		\|birth_place=Berlin, Germany
	\|rank_final=Captain		\|rank_final=Captain
			\|birth_date=26 December 1917
			\|death_place=West Newton, Massachusetts
	}}		}}

	<div class="soldier-lead">		<div class="soldier-lead">
	'''~~[[Gumpertz, Werner Herbert (42033526)\|~~Werner Herbert Gumpertz]]''' (1917 – 1 December 2017) was a Ritchie ~~Boy (from Germany; Jewish) who~~ trained ~~at Camp Ritchie in~~ [[:Category:Class 25\|~~class~~ 25]].		'''Werner Herbert Gumpertz''' (26 December 1917–1 December 2017) was a Berlin-born U.S. Army interrogator associated with [[Camp Ritchie]]. He trained with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]], interrogated prisoners for Seventh Army in Germany, later handled publications for military government in Karlsruhe, and after the war co-founded the engineering firm Simpson Gumpertz and Heger.
	</div>		</div>

	== Biography ==		== Biography ==
	~~From~~ 1936 to ~~1939, Werner completed 3 years of college~~ at Swiss ~~Fed Inst~~ of Technology ~~(ETH)~~. In ~~December 1943, Became naturalized citizen (Cert~~. ~~This information about Werner came from the tribute written by~~ his ~~granddaughter, Beckie Moses, that~~ was ~~part of~~ his ~~obituary~~. "In 1943, ~~Werner~~ was ~~drafted into~~ the U.S. He ~~completed his training~~ at ~~Camp Ritchie’s Military Intelligence Training Center~~. He ~~was~~ later ~~recruited by~~ the U.S. ~~He led~~ a ~~distinguished military career~~ and ~~took great pride~~ in ~~serving his country."~~.		Werner Herbert Gumpertz was born on 26 December 1917 in Berlin, Germany, the son of Richard and Olga Gumpertz. He wanted to be an engineer from childhood. In 1936 he went to Zurich to study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. In the summer of 1939 he was in Amsterdam on volunteer engineering work when the war blocked his return to finish the course. After Kristallnacht his father was sent to Dachau; his mother secured Richard's release and Richard joined Werner in Holland. The two arrived in New York City on 12 March 1940 on the Red Star Line ship ''Westernland''. Olga and Werner's younger brother followed in 1941.

			In the United States he worked as a junior engineer and surveyor in New York and on defense housing in Newport News, Virginia. Drafted on 27 August 1943, he trained at the Engineering Replacement Training Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, served in Pennsylvania, and returned to Belvoir as a supervisory noncommissioned officer. On a free day he went to the Pentagon, told an intelligence officer he wanted the work, and within a week was sent to [[Camp Ritchie]].

			Gumpertz trained as an interrogator with [[:Category:Class 25\|Class 25]] (30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945). He later recalled a graduation exercise in which he and two others spent three days reconstructing a German force in northern France from a laundry basket of ordinary papers—laundry tickets and speeding citations—with the secret material already stripped out. Another night exercise dropped them on the Gettysburg battlefield with a map printed in Japanese; they had to match terrain features to find the assembly point. He went overseas on a British liner (sleeping under a table rather than in a hammock), to England, then across the Channel to the suburbs of Paris, and into Germany with Seventh Army as a translator and interrogator of prisoners. Research notes place him with MFIU-5 at Jugenheim, attached to Seventh Army. The unit ended the war in Augsburg. He later said he once had a short conversation with Hermann Goering, and that when the small intelligence section needed a doctor it brought in a captured German air-force medical officer whose father-in-law, a Protestant bishop in Heidelberg, had refused to yield to the Nazis; Gumpertz later corresponded with that bishop from Frankfurt.

			After the fighting he joined United States military government in Karlsruhe as agent in charge of publications, covering periodicals and books. Discharged in early 1946, he spent a year as an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Frankfurt, then used the GI Bill at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning bachelor's and further engineering degrees and teaching there. With Howard Simpson and Frank Heger he formed Simpson Gumpertz and Heger. He married Elizabeth Lewit in 1949, lived in West Newton, Massachusetts, and died there on 1 December 2017 at the age of 99.

	== Research notes ==		== Research notes ==
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	* ~~Born~~ 26 December 1917 in Berlin, Germany ~~(Jewish)~~.		* 26 December 1917 — Born in Berlin, Germany.
	* ~~27 August 1943~~ — ~~Drafted into Army (ASN 42033526)~~. ~~Languages: German, Dutch, French~~.		* 1936 — Began engineering study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
	* ~~30 November 1944~~ — ~~Entered Class 25 (IPW Ge)~~.		* November 1938 — Father sent to Dachau after Kristallnacht; later released and joined Werner in Holland.
	* ~~February 1944~~ — ~~Assigned as replacement~~ with ~~4th Regt at Camp Reynolds, PA~~.		* Summer 1939 — Volunteer engineering work in Amsterdam; war prevented return to Zurich.
	* June 1944 — ~~Served as~~ Supervisory NCO (~~Cpl~~) at Fort Belvoir.		* 12 March 1940 — Arrived in New York with his father on the Westernland.
	* 29 January 1945 — ~~Graduated~~ Class 25 ~~as Cpl~~.		* 1941 — Mother and brother reached New York.
	* ~~Assigned to~~ MFIU-5 at Jugenheim (~~POW camp~~) ~~Weinstrasse to S~~. of.		* 27 August 1943 — Drafted; Fort Belvoir and Pennsylvania engineer training.
	* ~~Served with MFIU-5 attached to the 7th Army~~.		* June 1944 — Supervisory NCO (corporal) at Fort Belvoir.
			* 30 November 1944 – 29 January 1945 — Camp Ritchie Class 25; graduated corporal.
			* 1945 — Seventh Army interrogator in Germany (MFIU-5 / Jugenheim; later Augsburg).
			* 1945–1946 — Military government, Karlsruhe (publications); discharged early 1946.
			* 1946–1947 — Army Corps of Engineers, Frankfurt, then MIT.
			* 1949 — Married Elizabeth Lewit.
			* 1 December 2017 — Died in West Newton, Massachusetts, at age 99.
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	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
			* [[Ritchie Boy Interviews#Werner Gumpertz\|Newton Talks interview (watchlist card)]]
			* [https://brezniakfuneraldirectors.com/obituary-archive/werner-gumpertz/ Brezniak Funeral Directors obituary for Werner H. Gumpertz (granddaughter Beckie Moses)]
			* [https://newtonfreelibrary.net/collections/local-history-genealogy/newton-talks/ Newton Talks oral history project (Newton Free Library)]
			* [https://archive.org/details/NT_GUMPW Newton Talks oral history with Werner Gumpertz (7 July 2016) — transcript on Internet Archive]
	* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVPhZkaVQLs Newton Free Library interview with Werner Gumpertz on YouTube]		* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVPhZkaVQLs Newton Free Library interview with Werner Gumpertz on YouTube]
	* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data		* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data

Admin: Expand documented full name in infobox and lead

2026-09-21T01:05:12Z

Expand documented full name in infobox and lead

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	\|first=Werner		\|first=Werner
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	'''[[Gumpertz, Werner H. (42033526)\|Werner H. Gumpertz]]''' (1917 – 1 December 2017) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in [[:Category:Class 25\|class 25]].		'''[[Gumpertz, Werner Herbert (42033526)\|Werner Herbert Gumpertz]]''' (1917 – 1 December 2017) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in [[:Category:Class 25\|class 25]].
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Admin: Admin moved page Gumpertz, Werner H. (42033526) to Gumpertz, Werner Herbert (42033526) without leaving a redirect: Expand documented middle name: Herbert

2026-09-21T01:05:08Z

Admin moved page Gumpertz, Werner H. (42033526) to Gumpertz, Werner Herbert (42033526) without leaving a redirect: Expand documented middle name: Herbert

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:05, 21 September 2026
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Admin: Add interview video link to Sources

2026-09-20T22:49:18Z

Add interview video link to Sources

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:49, 20 September 2026
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	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
			* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVPhZkaVQLs Newton Free Library interview with Werner Gumpertz on YouTube]
	* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data		* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
	* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records		* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records